Christophe Gbenye

Christophe Gbenye (1927-3 February 2015) was a leader of the Simba Rebellion in Zaire during the Congo Crisis.

Biography
Christophe Gbenye was born in 1927 was from Orientale Province, Belgian Congo, Belgium. In 1960, he became Minister of Interior Affairs of Congo-Leopoldville under Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba, and after Lumumba's assassination, Gbenye, Pierre Mulele, and Gaston Soumialot led the Simba Rebellion, leading young fighters known as "simbas" ("lions") to fight against Joseph-Desire Mobutu's government of "Zaire". In 1965, the uprising was crushed, and Gbenye fled the country, later returning home after Mobutu was overthrown. He died in 2015 at the age of 88.